The Top Entrepreneurs in Money, Marketing, Business and Life

Listen to The Top if you want to hear from the worlds TOP entrepreneurs on how much they sold last month, how they are selling it, and what they are selling - 7 days a week in 20 minute interviews!
The Top is FOR YOU IF you are:
A STUDENT who wants to become the CEO of a $10m company in under 24 months (episode #4)
STUCK in the CORPORATE grind and looking to create a $10k/mo side business so you can quit (episode #7)
An influencer or BLOGGER who wants to make $27k/mo in monthly RECURRING revenue to have the life you want and full CONTROL (episode #1)
The Software as a Service (SaaS) entrepreneur who wants to grow to a $100m+ valuation (episode #14).
Your host, Nathan Latka is a 25 year old software entrepreneur who has driven over $4.5 million in revenue and built a 25 person team as he dropped out of school, raised $2.5million from a Forbes Billionaire, and attracted over 10,000 paying customers from 160+ different countries.
Oprah gets 60 minutes or more to make her guests comfortable to then ask tough questions. Nathan does it all in less than 15 minutes in this daily podcast that's like an audio version of Pat Flynn's monthly income report. Join the Top Tribe at NathanLatka.com/TheTop

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Cody McLain, the founder of Support Ninja. Cody launched his first business at 15, and sold it 18 months later, having made $150k in revenue. He’s an entrepreneur with incredible drive who’s been featured in Forbes, Mashable, Entrepreneur and more. Tune in to hear how Cody sold two businesses before he was 24, why he’s set up and outsourcing company, and why this relentless entrepreneur thinks that everyone just needs to slow down.

Famous 5:

Favorite Book? – The Entrepreneur Rollercoaster What CEO do you follow? — Ben Casnocha Favorite online tool? — Droplr Do you get 8 hours of sleep?—Yes If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? — It’s not always about making money. Slow down and explore the connections you can make with other humans.

Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:56 – Nathan’s introduction 01:25 – Welcoming Cody to the show 01:30 – Starting your first business at FIFTEEN? 02:01 – His friend proposed starting a hosting company to pay for the new XBox 02:40 – It took several years to move from on-selling HostGator’s services to starting their own hosting company 03:17 – At 16 or 17 he merged with another partner, having made $150k in revenue 04:41 – He was in foster care when he started his first business 05:11 – Aged 19, was screwed over by a potential business partner who ended up in a litigation battle 06:00 – Lost customers because the buyer damaged the company’s reputation 07:09 – Servers were shut down and customers quit 07:55 – Cody walked away and moved to Seattle 08:29 – He started a new business, PacificHost 09:40 – Put around $30k of his $70k savings into the business before it was profitable 10:11 – PacificHost was making around $650k in annual revenue when he sold it 10:51 – Margins tend to be low in the hosting industry. 12:06 – Sold PacificHost for a little under $1 million aged 24 12:35 – Started an outsourcing business with a partner in India 13:11 – “I always wanted to be a startup...but I’m very risk-averse. So I took the opportunity to work with startups” 13:53 – Support Ninja was founded to provide outsourcing services for small startups 14:09 – 14 months in, they have over $1 million in contracts 15:23 – First-year revenue in 2015 was less than $500k 15:44 – “We didn’t even know what we were selling the first few months” 16:01 – “I would say we provide Outsourcing As A Service” 16:37 – Support Ninja uses similar metrics to SaaS and they expect a 40% net margin 18:38 – Cody’s eager to use the skills and platform of Support Ninja to launch new projects 19:05 – They currently have 10 clients 19:30 – Average annual contract size is $100k - $400k 19:40 – Team size is 5 in the USA, 100 in the Philippines 20:20 – Follow Cody on Twitter or check out his website 22:05 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points: It’s not all about making money. Slow down. Connect with the people around you. Know your own skills. Always be looking ahead. Know where your current project can take you. Resources Mentioned: Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts. Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible. Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+ Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books.

Max Coursey, a real estate broker and the founder of Tiger Prop - a real estate brokerage company that’s giving its buyers their money back. Tune in to hear about Max’s innovative brokerage model, how to create an insanely successful co-working space, and why you should be having more fun.

Famous 5:

Favorite Book? – The E-Myth Revisited What CEO do you follow? — Elon Musk Favorite online tool? — Paperless Pipeline Do you get 8 hours of sleep?—No If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? — How to bite my tongue

Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:04 – Nathan’s introduction 01:25 – Welcoming Max to the show 01:34 – Tiger Prop is a residential real estate brokerage in Boise 01:55 – They credit 20% of brokerage fees back to the buyer 03:22 – Why do people choose Tiger Prop over other brokerages? 03:25 – They standardize professional photography, signs, flyers, and videos 04:20 – They don’t take any money unless they move the property 05:30 – Tiger Prop was launched in 2013 06:04 – First-year revenue was around $200k 06:39 – Now have 39 agents 07:22 – 2015 total revenue was around $800k 08:20 – “We’re starting a new co-working space in downtown Boise” 08:45 – Sharing space with a designer furniture gallery 09:16 – All agents are on the same split - Tiger Prop takes 30% of the brokerage fee and agents take 70% 10:31 – The total revenue figures only include commission charged 12:09 – There are multiple revenue streams in the building: furniture, coffee, and - soon - printing 13:50 – Connect with Max on Twitter or at Tiger Prop 15:29 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points: If you’re in the business of selling, then find and pay the best agents you possibly can. The better your people, the better your business. Find ways to make the space you work in, pay. Have as much frickin’ fun as humanly possible Resources Mentioned: Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible. Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts. Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+ Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books.

Justin Cooke, the co-founder and CMO of Empire Flippers - a brokerage platform that makes buying and selling websites incredible easy. After experimenting with website creation, Justin and his partner pivoted into brokerage in 2013 - and they’re handling millions in sales every year. Listen in to learn how the professionals value a website, how much the average site sells for, and why it’s best to be bold.

Famous Five:

Favorite Book? – Built to Sell What CEO do you follow? — Clay Collins Favorite online tool? — HubSpot Do you get 8 hours of sleep?—No If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? — I should have been bolder. I could have made bigger business moves.

Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:29 – Nathan’s introduction 01:50 – Empire Flippers helps people buy and sell online businesses and apps 02:05 – Their biggest sale was $550k last month 02:26 – A recent sale was Rave Aid - an Ecstasy hangover cure site 02:56 – Individual sellers are the most common listers 03:25 – $297 listing fee for the first listing and $97 for repeat listings 03:45 – Some users have portfolios of up to 60 websites that they buy and sell on a regular basis 04:15 – The listing fee acts as a filter to keep out scammers and time-wasters 04:40 – The site pivoted to brokerage in 2013 05:00 – First-year revenue was around $275k in total sites sold 05:24 – The charge a 15% fee on sales 05:38 – Use a basic algorithm to help with valuation, then look at subjective factors 06:24 – 95% of revenue comes from the 15% brokerage fee 06:50 – Made $4.56 million in sales on 176 deals in 2015 07:30 – In April 2016, made $1 million in sales - meaning $150k in revenue to Empire Flipper 09:04 – How did Justin start Empire Flippers? 09:56 – “We realised there was a huge market of people looking for mini-businesses” 10:09 – In April 2016, between 20 and 30 sellers listed their businesses for sale 11:05 – About 15-20 of those sites were sold 11:28 – About half of the buyers are repeat buyers and half are unique 11:45 – The average deal size is $76k 12:24 – They’ve sold well over 1000 sites since their inception 13:35 – How do Empire Flippers value a site? 14:30 – The business is entirely bootstrapped 15:00 – At the beginning of creating an investor program to bring people with lots of money and no time into the site 13:30 – Connect with Justin on Twitter or at the Empire Flippers blog 18:55 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points: Be bold. Forge your own path - don’t be afraid to ignore what other people are doing. Be willing to pivot as better markets reveals themselves Listing fees and barriers to entry can add value to your business by keeping out tire-kickers and time-wasters Resources Mentioned: Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible. Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts. Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+ Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books.

Michael Gilroy, a tech investor and partner with Canaan investment. Canaan’s an early-stage venture firm with $4.2 billion of capital under management. Michael moved there when he realised he wanted to engage with the companies he was investing in. Listen in to hear the ins and outs of technology investment, just how Michael secured an investment deal with Bellhops, and why we should be working less.

Famous 5:

Favorite Book? – Fooling Some of the People All of the Time What CEO do you follow? — Dan Ruch Favorite online tool? — TD Ameritrade Do you get 8 hours of sleep?—No If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? — Try to work less and be in the moment more

Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:02 – Nathan’s introduction 02:00 – Welcoming Michael to the show 02:24 – Michael started his career working with M&A and private capital investment in Silicon Valley 02:50 – He was involved in the 2012 Oracle deal 03:58 – How did Michael get into technology investment? 04:28 – “I had no idea what I wanted to be when I grew up” 04:50 – “You genuinely have to be passionate about investment banking...you see a lot of people churn out” 05:25 – Michael worked at GCA for 5 years in New York 06:39 – “The great thing about venture capital is that when you invest, that’s just the start of the deal” 07:35 – Canaan is an early-stage investor - meaning that they support the companies they invest in 09:30 – What are the roles in a venture firm? And what’s Michael’s next step? 10:29 – How can Michael move up the ranks at Canaan? 11:28 – How do you bring in companies like Bellhops for investment? 11:40 – “It’s all about your network...And it’s important to go deep on a couple of different verticals. You can’t do everything” 13:08 – Michael’s looking to start making fintech deals 13:30 – Connect with Michael on Twitter 15:15 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points: Work less. Enjoy life. Making good deals and bringing value to a company is all about your network. Nurture solid relationships with the people around you. If you’re looking for early-stage investors, find a partner investor who’ll bring more than just money to the table. You’re building a long-term relationship! Resources Mentioned: Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible. Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts. Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+ Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books.

Dr Henry Cloud, a psychologist, business consultant, and bestselling author of over 45 books. His most recent book is The Power of the Other - offering powerful insights into how relationships shape our success. Listen in to hear about Dr Henry’s enormous experience in writing and publishing, why you need an agent, and exactly what the “power of the other” means for your business.

Famous 5:

Favorite Book? – Steve Jobs

What CEO do you follow? — Elon Musk

Favorite online tool? — OneNote

Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— No

If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? — I wish I’d known what’s in this book: that I need other people to get me through life and turn me into my best self

Time Stamped Show Notes:

01:20 – Nathan’s introduction

02:07 – Welcoming Dr Henry to the show

03:10 – Why does Dr Henry write so much?

03:35 – “The books come from the work...when I see an issue that multiple people are having, I write a book”

04:50 – Dr Henry’s latest book is The Power of The Other

05:05 – “People only get past the current limit of their performance when they build relationships that take them to that higher level of performance”

06:50 – The last book that Dr Henry published was Boundaries For Leaders

07:30 – Even the highest performers tend to lose control of their lives

08:09 – “If everything’s important, then nothing is”

08:40 – Published by Harper Collins

09:25 – “The publisher doesn’t sell the book - the author and their platform sell the book”

10:55 – What was the path that Dr Henry took with his publisher?

12:40 – Why it’s important to have an agent

13:15 – Agents have specialist knowledge about the business side of books

15:15 – “Ask yourself one question: why am I writing this book?”

16:09 – A book is a way of getting your message out

16:45 – It’s a product line, a way of spreading your message, and a calling card

17:00 – When you’re just starting out, royalties are probably the wrong reason to write a book

18:50 – Beginning authors will be offered lower royalty percentages than established authors - around 10% would be normal

20:17 – An advance is roughly the royalty percentage for a first year of sales

21:12 – How did Dr Henry sell copies of his first book?

21:50 – Dr Henry sold copies of Changes That Heal at speaking events

23:25 – He got a $10k advance on that first book

24:35 – He took around 12% of the $20 sale price in royalties

25:55 – Publishers are more likely to pay for ideas where they see a market

26:44 – Dr Henry sold around 40-50k copies of his first book before he was offered another deal

27:20 – Self-publishing works well for some people - but if you don’t want publishing to be your day job, then it’s worth looking at other options

29:02 – Connect with Dr Henry at Power of The Other

32:00 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points:

The publisher doesn’t sell the book: the author and their platform sell the book

Other people, and the relationships you form, are absolutely vital to bringing out your best performance

Want to write a book? Understand why you want to write it.

Resources Mentioned:

Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible.

Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts.

Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+

Steven Mazur, co-founder and CEO of Ash & Anvil, a clothing company for short guys. Steven co-founded the company last year and he’s excited about how many dedicated customers their store already has. Tune in to hear how Steven’s getting inventory orders right; the importance of connecting with the entrepreneurs around you; and why everything always takes longer than you think.

Famous 5:

Favorite Book? –How To Win Friends And Influence People

What CEO do you follow? — Andy Dunn

Favorite online tool? — Wunderlist

Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— No

If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? — Everything takes longer than you think it will

Time Stamped Show Notes:

01:20 – Nathan’s introduction

01:51 – Welcoming Steven to the show

02:06 – “I’m 5’ 6”, my business partner’s 5’ 8” - we decided to be the ones to make clothes for shorter guys”

02:56 – Started with an IndieGoGo campaign with a $10k goal, and ended up generating $26k in pre-orders

03:40 – The bestseller is their blue gingham shirt

04:55 – The price of the shirt is $69 - what are the margins on that?

05:20 – Base unit cost at a low volume is around $25

05:35 – Around a 55% gross margin at this point

06:00 – First run of shirts was 1000 units

06:35 – Steven doesn’t have a figure for net margin at this point

07:30 – How do you handle the challenge of ordering the right amount of inventory?

07:50 – The company is self-funded

08:31 – “It always takes longer than you think to order”

08:53 – Founded in 2015

09:11 – The team is currently just Steven and his co-founder Eric

09:37 – The most important metrics for them are revenue, number of customers, and re-order rate

10:50 – Close to having 1000 unique customers at the moment

11:24 – The next order is 1,250 shirts

12:10 – Average customer buys 1.5 shirts

12:32 – Total revenue in 2015 was $50k

13:30 – What’s Venture For America?

14:00 – It’s a startup program that places entrepreneurs in struggling American cities, like Detroit, and helps them connect with investors and other start-ups

16:03 – “It’s been a big part of our story”

10:45 – Connect with Steven at Ash & Anvil

18:40 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points:

It takes 10 years to build an overnight success: focus on the long-term and be patient

Engage with the smart people around you. Be part of your community and your ecosystem

Start the company that you want to exist - but check that other people want it too

Resources Mentioned:

Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible.

Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts.

Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+

Jess Butcher, the co-founder of Blippar. It’s a mobile visual browser that lets you search the internet without words, simply by scanning the objects around you. As Chief Marketing Officer, she’s led Blippar to over 60 million app downloads. Listen in to hear about the crazy future of augmented reality and why Jess thinks that “blipping”, like “googling”, will become a verb before too long.

Famous 5:

Favorite Book? – Anything by Seth Godin What CEO do you follow? — Aaron Levie Favourite online tool? —Twitter and Linkedin Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— No If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be?— Fake it til you make it. Stop being so cautious.

Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:08 – Nathan’s introduction 01:40 – Welcoming Jess to the show 01:53 – Blippar is a mobile visual browser that can recognise anything in the physical world and search for information on it - “Search without words” 03:15 – “We could play an audio file on the artwork you see - or open a link to buy the handbag that you see someone holding on the train” 03:40 – Currently working with Coca Cola and Lucky Charms to create interactive experiences with their physical products 03:35 – Founded in 2013; went to market in 2014 05:20 – Raised just over $100 million in funding 06:00 – “We’ve been in the market long enough that we have entrenched relationships with many of our clients. It’s a combination of consultancy and technology fixed fees” 07:30 – Mostly 7-figure retained relationships 08:15 – “Increasingly we’re moving the creative side onto agencies and focusing on tech” 08:30 – Average annual contract is in the mid 6 figures 08:45 – Currently working with well over 500 brands and asset owners 09:40 – Founded in 2011 09:50 – Around 300 team members in 14 offices around the world 11:40 – In addition to the brands they work closely with, Blippar has self-service tools that let smaller companies access their technology 12:20 – Blipp Builder is an affordable and accessible way into Blippar 13:30 – How do you incentivise users to come on board Blippar? 13:50 – “We’ve never sold this as people having access to everyone that uses Blippar...the idea is that the partners themselves are getting people to download the app” 16:00 – What’s the long term goal? 16:15 – “We want to become a verb in common parlance” 18:02 – Within the year, Blippar will be able to recognise its surroundings with the same level of complexity as an adult brain 18:20 – Connect with Jess on Twitter 21:10 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points: Visual search recognition is the next level of engagement with the internet - visual recognition and augmented reality are going to take off rapidly in the next few years Fake it til you make it. Pretend you know what you’re doing and you’re where you want to be. Have ambitious goals. Know when you’re onto a big idea - and chase it. Resources Mentioned: Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible. Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts. Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+ Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books.

Saalim Chowdhury, a man who’s out to build the future of online talent sourcing. Saalim was CTO at Skillbridge - a premium talent-sourcing company that was acquired last week by Toptal. Listen in to hear Nathan and Saalim talk about why Skillbridge was keen to be acquired, how the human cloud economy works for high-level talent, and why sometimes you just need to keep going.

Famous 5:

Favorite Book? – The Hard Thing About Hard Things What CEO do you follow? — No Favourite online tool? —Thingthing keyboard Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— No If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be?— I wish I knew the value of persevering no matter what

Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:10 – Nathan’s introduction 01:50 – Welcoming Saalim to the show 02:00 – Skillbridge is an online platform that brings management consultants to people who need them. 02:40 – “How do you make the human cloud economy work for people whose skills can’t be broken down into a 5-star rating?” 03:10 – Skillbridge breaks down what a company needs people to do, and then connects them with the people who have those skills 03:35 – Founded in 2013; went to market in 2014 04:30 – Saalim was the second customer of Skillbridge and found the exact person he needed there 05:50 – Skillbridge’s peak team size was 7 people 06:35 – Makes money from a 20% flat fee charged to the buyer 07:55 – Have been a total of 7.5k people listed; 1k people looking for skills 08:30 – Raised an angel investment round 10:00 – A typical project involve consulting, for example in the equity space - perhaps a week to 2 week project 11:00 – Typical project size is $5k-10k 11:50 – Deliberately high-quality, curated skills service 12:40 – In March 2016 just under $500k of projects placed on the platform 13:55 – Why sell the business? 14:15 – “We could either raise money and play catch-up, or we could sell to these guys and go in together” 15:10 – “Everybody was very happy with the deal” 16:00 – How is a business like Skillbridge valued? 18:02 – “Toptal are essentially building the future of on-demand talent” 18:20 – Connect with Saalim on Linkedin or via email 20:00 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points: Sometimes it’s best to join the people ahead of you instead of trying to play catch-up Persevere. Work through the hard times. The human cloud economy is complex - the platforms that manage it and connect people need to be able to handle the complexity of people’s skills and histories. Resources Mentioned: Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible. Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts. Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+ Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books.

Ethan Appleby wants to get away from a world where everyone has the same Ikea print in their flat. He’s the founder of Vango - a startup that connects aspiring artists with novice art buyers. They’re currently making $1.6 million in revenue and hoping to grow this year. Listen in to hear Nathan and Ethan talk making art accessible, setting up a successful marketplace, and why Ethan’s raised three funding rounds via convertible note.

Famous 5:

Favorite Book? – Zero to One What CEO do you follow? — Stewart Butterfield Favourite online tool? —5None Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— No If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be?— To take the step sooner to get into entrepreneurship

Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:10 – Nathan’s introduction 01:51 – Welcoming Ethan to the show 02:00 – Vango is a marketplace that connects artists and art buyers. It makes money by taking 30% of every transaction 02:50 – “Art is something people are intrigued by, but intimidated by” 03:16 – Before starting Vango, Ethan was a Design Thinking consultant 03:54 – Started in 2013 - first-year revenue was zero 04:23 – As of March 2016, 20,000 sellers have an active profile 05:00 – Targeting new art buyers - around 100,000 buyers on their platform in total 05:45 – “We’re hustling every month to get new sales” 06:35 – Currently have a team of 12 06:44 – Raised around $3 million through 500 Startups 07:10 – All raised via convertible notes 07:55 – Convertible notes let you take funding without worrying about valuation 09:10 – “We like to help people engage with art directly” 09:44 – Total revenue in 2015 was $1.6 million 10:10 – Biggest cost is the team 10:45 – In March 2016, about 800 buyers and 320 sellers 11:25 – Once an artist sells 10 pieces, their likelihood to sell increases 12:18 – The benefit to artists comes from higher traffic 13:30 – Average order value on on Vango is $575 14:20 – Connect with Ethan via email or on twitter 16:05 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points: Get started. Create your business now. To get sales, you need to hustle. Keep moving and building momentum Art is an area where a marketplace to connect buyers and sellers directly has room to take off Resources Mentioned: Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible. Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts. Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+ Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books.

Jake Jorgovan, founder of Outbound Creative: an agency that goes the extra mile to help consultants secure their dream clients. Tune in to hear why it’s worth spending to acquire your perfect clients; why Jake’s sending cakes to top executives; and how he’s planning to multiply annual revenue by 10x this year.

Famous 5:

Favorite Book? –How To Win Friends And Influence People

What CEO do you follow? — Aaron Ross

Favourite online tool? — Trello

Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— Yes

If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? — To enjoy life more along the way. Don’t work around the clock.

Dave Nevogt is the co-founder of Hubstaff, has three kids, and gets more than 8 hours of sleep every night. Hubstaff is a SaaS company that helps virtual teams communicate better through online time tracking. They’ve just broken $1 million in annual revenue. Tune in to hear how Dave’s managing disagreements with his co-founder, a tight breakdown of his unit economics, and why you should be taking more risks.

Famous 5:

Favorite Book? – The 80/20 Principle What CEO do you follow? — Hiten Shah Favourite online tool? —Google Docs Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— More If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be?— That taking risks is okay. Even if it doesn’t work out, you’ll learn from it.

Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:03 – Nathan’s introduction 01:28 – Welcoming Dave to the show 01:40 – Hubstaff is a SaaS business that helps track time and invoice clients 01:50 – Launched in 2013 - the business is entirely bootstrapped 02:20 – Split the original investment 50/50 with his partner 02:50 – What will Dave and his partner do if they disagree on something big? 03:15 – If there’s a disagreement, one person can buy the other one out 04:22 – Currently have 2600 paying customers 04:50 – Services track time and record activity, screenshots, what software is being used 05:35 – Average customer is paying $35 per month 06:22 – MRR in March 2016 was just under $88k 07:26 – 20 employees, with a head-count cost each month of around $46k 08:15 – Adding about 270 new customers each month 08:45 – Customer churn is 3.9% 09:12 – Lifetime value is around $660 09:55 – Founders based in Indianapolis, with a global team 10:50 – Paying around $90 on per-customer acquisition 11:14 – Spread through company to contractor to company 12:30 – Blog gets around 40k unique visitors per month 13:00 – Around a 7% conversion rate to free trial at the Hubstaff homepage 14:20 – Connect with Dave via email or through the Hubstaff website 16:25 – “We just want to build the business up to a healthy annual revenue and then live our lives” 16:55 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points: Always take risks. Even if things don’t work, you’ll learn. Find a partner who’s on the same page as you. And even then, make sure you’re prepared for disagreements. Have your numbers at your fingertips Resources Mentioned: Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible. Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts. Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+ Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books.

Kat Loterzo - a content machine who’s written 37 bestselling books and generates 3-4 emails for her list each day. Kat built her own 7-figure online fitness business before turning to coaching and writing. She now coaches businesses on how to have the same success she did. Tune in to hear how Kat brings people to her membership site, why she can’t get enough of writing, and the importance of listening to your gut.

Famous 5:

Favorite Book? – Big Magic What CEO do you follow? — Grant Cardone Favourite online tool? —None, I’m pretty old school Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— Definitely not If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be?—Listen to your gut and follow what you feel called to do

Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:11 – Nathan’s introduction 01:45 – Welcoming Kat to the show 02:05 – Kat built Woman Incredible as an extension of her personal training business 03:10 – Started in 2007, became big in 2010 03:40 – She’s now dropped the business - but at its height it was making $80k a month 04:20 – Kat currently makes revenue from The Tribe, a coaching membership site 05:17 – First month is $97, subsequent months are $197 05:30 – Around 150 current members 05:50 – Made just over $500k from the site so far 06:20 – Membership gives free access to all of Kat’s content, and access to members’ community 08:22 – Keeping around 80% of members each month 08:50 – Average customer lifetime is around 5 months - but members will often buy other products 09:40 – Acquisition is mostly from referrals and social media. Kat’s only just now setting up a funnel 10:00 – Kat will email her list 2-3 times each day, and always includes links back to The Tribe website 10:55 – Kat also hosts the Success Smackdown podcast 11:20 – Produces several 4 or 5 minute episodes each week 11:40 – Each episode is hitting around 1,000 downloads 12:40 – Not monetising podcasts - just using them as content marketing 13:13 – Kat’s an Amazon bestselling author with around 1000 downloads per month 14:30 – “I can’t get enough of writing” - Kat’s written 37 books 15:30 – Publishing the next book through CreateSpace 16:20 – Facebook is Kat’s main source of traffic 16:50 – Connect with Kat on Facebook, Twitter, and at her website 19:00 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points: Create the content and people will come Follow your gut and do what you feel called to do It’s not the size of your list that matters, but how dedicated your following is. Find people who love what you do. Resources Mentioned: Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible. Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts. Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+ Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books.

Jake Ducey is 24 years old and he’s already written three books with Penguin Random House. Jake’s making money from his books - but he’s out to make a difference. Last year he raised 345,000 pounds of food for homeless people off the back of his book tour. Tune in to hear Nathan and Jake talk self-publishing, how to launch your writing career, and why patience is everything.

Famous Five:

Favorite Book? – Pitch Anything What CEO do you follow? — Oren Klaff Favourite online tool? —Youtube Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— Pretty close If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be?—Patience

Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:11 – Nathan’s introduction 01:45 – Welcoming Jake to the show 02:00 – Jake wrote a book not expecting to make money from it 02:55 – Wrote his first book, Into the Wind, aged 19 04:00 – Self-published; have now sold 30k copies 05:00 – Made around $100k from that book alone 05:40 – Got a literary agent because he wanted someone with experience and a mentor 06:30 – Founded in 2012 and had only $200 topline revenue 06:25 – Agent’s name is Bill Gladstone at Waterside Productions 06:50 – “I would recommend going through Amazon if you’re self-publishing” 07:35 – Next book, The Purpose Principles, was published by Penguin Random House 08:50 – Had an advance on the contract - around $30k 09:36 – Jake was starting to pick up momentum by this point 10:03 – “I want to influence people’s lives” 11:00 – Took Jake around 4 months to write his 60,000-word book 12:30 – “It’s nice to write a book with support and an editor and help” 13:37 – Having a publisher is also a credibility stamp for speaking engagements 14:00 – Jake mostly makes money through speaking engagements 15:13 – Hired Ryan Holiday for book launch strategy sessions 16:05 – The next book, Profit From Happiness, will be published in June 2016 17:40 – Plans to give away his book to underprivileged youth: for every book that’s bought, he’ll donate one 19:10 – Jake hopes to expand internationally and keep writing books 20:00 – Connect with Jake on Facebook 21:40 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points: Don’t be afraid to self-publish. Publishing houses are more likely to pick you up if you’ve already had some success. Profit has to intertwine with service and fulfilment. Make sure you’re helping other people. Most people overestimate what they can accomplish in a year and underestimate what they can accomplish in a decade. Be patient. Resources Mentioned: Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts. Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible. Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+ Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books.

Warren Jolly, the CEO of Ad Quadrant, a social marketing agency that made $4 million in revenue in its first year. Warren’s an expert in leveraging social media and mobile marketing. Listen in to hear why you need to plan obsessively before you launch a business, why focus is the key to success, and how Warren aspires to scale massively...without becoming a SaaS business.

Famous 5:

Favorite Book? – Good to Great

What CEO do you follow? — Gary Vaynerchuk

Favorite online tool? — Slack

Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— Yes

If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? — Focus on one business; be great at one thing at a time

Time Stamped Show Notes:

01:27 – Nathan’s introduction

01:49 – Welcoming Warren to the show

01:56 – Ad Quadrant was founded in 2014

02:05 – It’s a managed services agency

02:35 – Ad Quadrant works in the social marketing niche, including social media and mobile advertising

03:12 – They make money by charging a percentage of the ad spend that they manage - if they meet their acquisition targets then the ad spend may be increased

04:00 – “First year revenue was $4 million”

04:23 – Spent a lot of time pre-planning and finding clients before they launched the business

05:14 – “It was a painstaking process...we failed a lot and spent a lot of time working out our niche”

05:25 – Revenue in 2015 was $15 million

05:46 – 33 employees, based in California and New York

06:01 – Take around 20% of ad spend on average

06:14 – Will take more than that if they arbitrage a campaign - and will take less from high-volume clients

07:02 – Have 35 active clients

07:17 – Most revenue comes from percentage fees from ad spend - and some comes from a different model where they take a fixed price-per-action from customers

08:24 – The metrics that are important to Warren’s team are new opportunities, growth, and churn and attrition

08:55 – “If you’re not carefully focused on churn, you’re just filling a leaky bucket with more water”

09:05 – “The two things you can control are flawless quality and fanatical customer service - those are what reduce churn”

Nicholas Haase, founder and CEO of Loot and Startup Drugz. Nick’s come out of the private equity industry and now wants to change the direction of marketing by tapping into the power of user-generated content. Tune in to hear what Nathan should invest his next million dollars into, why augmented reality is the future of tech, and where to buy a “9 to 5 is for the weak” T-Shirt.

Famous Five:

Favorite Book? – How to Win at the Sport of Business What CEO do you follow? — Elon Musk Favourite online tool? —Shopify Do you get 8 hours of sleep?—No. I’m trying. If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be?—I wish I knew how important computer science major would have been

Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:13 – Nathan’s introduction 01:40 – Welcoming Nicholas to the show 02:20 – Worked in the private equity industry after an internship 03:10 – The people Nicholas worked with loved what they were doing 03:40 – Nicholas would invest $100 million in augmented reality if he had the juice 04:50 – Loot uses incentivised user-generated content to promote a brand 05:30 – People can upload photographs or actions and receive rewards according to their following 06:30 – Founded in 2012 and had only $200 topline revenue 06:50 – Topline revenue in 2015 was $500k 07:30 – Bootstrapped the app’s creation and raised capital following proof of concept 08:20 – Augmented reality can be many things - a Snapchat filter is augmented reality 08:46 – How do people value brands in the space that Loot works in? 09:30 – By recurring revenue or by number of contracts 09:55 – What’s Startup Drugz? 10:20 – An e-commerce company that sells merchandise based on entrepreneur humour 11:20 – In February 2016, total sales revenue was in mid-5 figures 12:30 – Connect with Nicholas via Twitter 14:05 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points: Understand some computer science. Even if it’s not your core competency, you’ll be grateful for the background. Nicholas thinks that augmented reality is the future of tech and entertainment Leverage your users and fanbase - marketing is effective when it connects users to other user-generated content Resources Mentioned: Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts. Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible. Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+ Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books.

John Ruhlin, the #1 distributor for Cutco and founder of the Ruhlin Group. John’s an expert on high-level gift giving, and accessing CEOs and top executives. Tune in to hear about why gratitude is so important, how to make your relationships work for you, and the secrets of effective gifting.

Famous Five:

Favorite Book? – Give and Take What CEO do you follow? — Gary Vaynerchuk Favourite online tool? —Hatchbuck Do you get 8 hours of sleep?—No If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be?—I wish I understood that I didn’t have to do it all on my own

Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:10 – Nathan’s introduction 01:30 – Welcoming John to the show 01:56 – Interned with CutCo and created their corporate gifting program 03:00 – Made around $10k over a summer aged 20 03:50 – Sold about $35-40k in his first summer 04:25 – Sold over $500k in his best year with CutCo 05:20 – “We help leaders not suck at saying Thank You” 05:50 – John speaks, writes, and coaches on corporate generosity and gratitude 06:20 – Worked with the Chicago Cubs on gifting 07:20 – They were remodelling a stadium - so John suggested using the wood from the old locker room to create 400 custom speakers for their most important relationships 09:20 – 8 people in John’s team and a strong relationship with his suppliers 10:08 – “I really try to appreciate everyone in our circle...I don’t have a business without those people” 10:40 – Almost lost the business on 2008 because of embezzlement by his accountant 11:25 – Published Giftology through Book in a Box 12:40 – Book in a Box cut down around 90% of the work related to creating a book 13:30 – Execution, launch and publicity are all being managed by John’s company 15:00 – Aiming to hit the Wall Street Journal bestseller list 15:20 – The best way to sell a book is to create a great book and have a tribe who’ll promote it 17:50 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points: You are as strong as the people around you. Create strong relationships with your team, your suppliers, and your partners. You don’t have to do everything alone. Say thank you. Relationships thrive on gratitude and appreciation Be humble and be honest about your weaknesses, and you’ll find people to help you balance them out Resources Mentioned: Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts. Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible. Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+ Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books.

KJ Singh left $300k a year as an options trader at Wall St to move to Silicon Valley. After leading growth at Union Metrics, KJ’s founded Dil Mil - the world’s fastest-growing dating app for South Asians. Tune in to hear why some of the country’s richest people are unhappy; how KJ’s growing his business with no paid advertising; and what the future looks like for Dil Mil.

Famous Five:

Favorite Book? – Zero to One What CEO do you follow? — Naval Ravikant Favourite online tool? —Slack Do you get 8 hours of sleep?—Yes If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be?—Don’t work on multiple projects at the same time

Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:10 – Nathan’s introduction 01:40 – Welcoming KJ to the show 02:16 – “I think some of the top traders at different firms are miserable with their life” 03:00 – “I think a lot of the hard work in the startup world is meaningful work” 03:22 – KJ left finance aged 24, earning $300k per year 03:58 – He joined Union Metrics because he was attracted to the idea behind the firm 04:30 – Moved to Silicon Valley only knowing one person 05:00 – Worked at Union Metrics for 1 year, in which time it grew from 14 to 23 people 05:40 – Left Union Metrics to create a dating app for South Asians - why? 06:00 – KJ’s sister was 28, a doctor and attractive - but had never found time to date 06:17 – 90% of South Asians date and marry within their community 06:40 – “The traditional model of arranged model has broken down” 07:18 – Raised $2.8 million altogether using two SAFE rounds 08:15 – Dil Mil makes money through a premium model. There’s a free base service; it’s possible to purchase more ‘likes’ 09:40 – Average income per user is $10 per month 09:55 – Just under 1 million downloads 10:13 – Run rate of around $500k; currently making around $44k per month 10:45 – “A lot of the metrics that SaaS companies use are relevant to us - but obviously, when we’re successful people leave.” 11:50 – Not using any paid advertising at the moment - growing through referrals 12:40 – Revenue goal for 2016 is $1 million 13:15 – Average customer stays for around 3 months, giving a $40 lifetime value 14:20 – “The point where you have revenue without investors is a great position to be in” 14:50 – Connect with KJ on Twitter 16:44 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points: Find a niche market with a need you can meet. Generate revenue. So many startups run a fundraising round with nothing but a great idea - then find they just can’t monetise. Focus on one thing at a time. Don’t try to work on every great idea at once. Resources Mentioned: Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts. Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible. Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+ Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books.

Kevin Getch, the founder and director of digital strategy agency Webfor. He’s running a digital strategy agency that’s growing by 30% year on year - tune in to find out why he left his 6-figure job at the height of the financial crisis and how failures have given him the confidence to succeed.

Famous 5:

Favorite Book? – Good to Great

What CEO do you follow? — Sarah Bird

Favourite online tool? — Google Keep

Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— Yes

If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? — Get comfortable with being uncomfortable

Peter Awad, host of The Slow Hustle podcast. Peter started an automotor business in college and now runs two startups, as well as hosting an in-depth entrepreneurship podcast that’s been featured on the Apple homepage. Tune in to hear Peter talk about entrepreneurship with 4 kids, how he makes money from his podcast, and what you can learn from the way successful people manage their lows.

Famous Five:

Favorite Book? – Bold What CEO do you follow? — No Favourite online tool? —Pomotodo Do you get 8 hours of sleep?—No If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be?—I wish I had more confidence to do what I wanted to do

Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:19 – Nathan’s introduction 01:40 – Welcoming Peter to the show 01:47 – Peter has a background in e-commerce 02:30 – Peter generates revenue from his automotor business 03:07 – Gross revenue in 7 figures, and gross margin of 20-30% 04:22 – Started an unsuccessful startup which he tried to run for 4 years 05:00 – Connections for Mission Meats were made through previous failures 06:05 – Entrepreneurship is full of highs and lows 06:40 – The Slow Hustle looks at the way that successful entrepreneurs manage their highs and lows and live a manageable life 08:30 – Has hour-long interviews that dig into people’s lives 09:20 – Show has 15 live episodes, and around 8-10k downloads per month 10:30 – Producing quality relationships with interviewees 11:45 – Just signed their first 2 sponsors 12:45 – Sponsored by a law firm and by the Iowa Startup Accelerator 13:16 – Sell an 8-show sponsor pack for $3k 14:25 – Sponsor pack buys you a 60-second ‘sponsor spot’ of pre-recorded conversation 14:40 – Around a $10 CPM 14:59 – “It’s a labour of love for me...if I can cover costs it’s fine with me” 15:20 – Connect with Peter on Twitter 17:03 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points: Don’t be afraid or ashamed of failure. Your failures will set you up for future success. All entrepreneurs - even the most successful - struggle with managing their work and life, with fear of failure, and with emotional lows. You aren’t alone. Follow your passions and do what you love Resources Mentioned: Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts. Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible. Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+ Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books.

Ash is the co-founder of Tradecraft and an authority on entrepreneurship, social media, and branding. Ash has written a bestselling book, spoken to over 10,000 people and been cited in Forbes, TEDx, and Entrepreneur Magazine. Listen in to hear Ash and Nathan break down how to launch a successful business book, the fine art of self-branding, and how to capture an email list of half a million.

Famous Five:

Favorite Book? – Inside Steve’s Brain What CEO do you follow? — Elon Musk Favourite online tool? —Hootsuite Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— Yes If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be?—Master the art of being fearless. Stick with your heart.

Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:19 – Nathan’s introduction 02:30 – Welcoming Ash to the show 02:45 – Right now Ash is making money through book sales and speaking engagements 03:08 – TradeCraft is Ash’s main business - but he drives traffic through self-branding 03:50 – Confessions From an Entrepreneur was published in 2012 04:02 – Ash makes $2-3 from each book sale; there have been over 150k volumes sold 05:00 – Ash focuses on a very niche market - and speaks to audiences to drive book sales 05:45 – Primarily promoted his book sales through Facebook 06:15 – Currently has a list of over 500k - captures emails by giving away the first volume of his ebook 07:10 – The reason that a lot of people don’t see returns on their books is that they don’t focus on one niche market 08:10 – Ash has a strong relationship with a lot of colleges through speaking 08:55 – Pushed programs to buy and distribute the book to students 09:45 – Speaking revenue in 2015 was around $90k for around 18 speeches 10:20 – Ash is stepping back from speaking while he works on a new book 10:50 – Works with some startups as a consultant to develop their pitch 12:10 – Ash has equity in 15 startups 13:00 – “Write an authentic book. Let your passion show.” 14:10 – Ash builds his by speaking engagements - and takes other people’s lists in exchange for co-promotions 14:10 – Connect with Ash on Facebook 17:35 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points: Promote yourself. Take speaking engagements, write, build authority. All of the self-branding work you do will drive your sales. If you want to write a book that sells - target your niche. Find the influencers there and push distribution through them. Work at being fearless. Resources Mentioned: Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts. Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible. Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+ Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books.

Vincent Dignan is a growth hacking expert who was voted the best speaker at South by Southwest this year. He’s just launched The Growth Hacking Playbook and he’s turning marketing upside down by ditching the platitudes and giving people practical advice and tools on how to actually generate traffic. Listen in to hear about how to get to 1 million unique website views per month, how to find anyone’s email online, and why networking events are a waste of time.

Famous Five:

Favorite Book? – The 48 Laws of Power What CEO do you follow? — James Altucher Favourite online tool? —Audiense Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— Yes If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be?—Don’t go to networking events. And start public speaking earlier.

Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:10 – Nathan’s introduction 01:34 – Welcoming Vincent to the show 01:50 – Vincent provides consultancy, coaching, and speaking services that help them to grow their business 03:00 – Use Charlie app - it will find all of the publically available information from someone’s email address 03:33 – Email Hunter is a free tool to help you find anyone’s email 04:02 – Discover will show common connections on social media 04:30 – Profile Hopper visits people’s Linkedin profiles to generate return views to your profile 04:55 – Rebump is a Gmail tool that will re-send emails that haven’t been responded to 05:34 – Vincent has a small number of clients who pay him $5-10k per month 06:10 – Magnific is Vincent’s agency 06:40 – Vincent employs over 750 writers, editors, and marketers 07:40 – How could Nathan get to 1 million unique website views per month? 07:58 – Optimise his email list, and build his Twitter following 08:30 – Would create a tool to add “You like this, read this next” to the website 09:40 – Which articles do I send to which parts of my list? 11:10 – Start executing things - move your project along 12:45 – Vincent doesn’t take equity when it’s offered 15:20 – Connect with Vincent on Facebook 15:45 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points: Get in front of audiences. Start public speaking and sharing what you know. Use the right tools to build your list and drive traffic. The money’s in the list - so have the right tools to work it. Start executing. You can go to a hundred networking events and still achieve nothing. Move your project along. Resources Mentioned: Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts. Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible. Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+ Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books.

Growth Hacker Marketing and The Obstacle Is The Way. Ryan’s an expert on media manipulation, resilience and growth - and his new book Ego Is The Enemy is due out soon. Tune in to hear why ‘fake it til you make it’ is terrible advice, why Donald Trump won’t last long, and what you can learn about business from Angela Merkel, Marina Abramovich, and Kanye West.

Time Stamped Show Notes:

01:12 – Nathan’s introduction

01:40 – “I’m fascinated with the accumulation of wisdom over the last thousand years”

02:25 – Ryan dropped out of college, and assisted Tucker Max and Robert Green

02:40 – Ryan was the director of marketing at American Apparel and has since authored 4 books

03:50 – He had a $250k advance on his first book, Trust Me, I'm Lying

05:35 – The economics of books - the advance might not be high, but sales can build

07:42 – The Obstacle is the Way has been used by the NFL, the military, and other competitive areas

09:06 – “If you can build multiple income streams, you can take more creative risks”

10:10 – Why write another book?

10:33 – “Writing is what I love...it’s what makes me feel fulfilled”

11:05 – Ryan’s latest book is Ego is the Enemy

11:55 – “You want a book to provoke a discussion”

12:30 – Almost every business book is based on the idea that “you’re doing great” - Ryan wanted to take that idea down

13:31 – “There’s a difference between confidence and ego. Ego is when you lose self-awareness and start living in illusions”

14:54 – “If you start believing in your own greatness, it’s the death of creativity” - Marina Abramovich

16:00 – It isn’t ego if you have a realistic confidence in your abilities - based on your own track record

16:40 – When ego becomes dangerous is when you act as though you’ve already accomplished the things that you’re really only starting to work on

17:50 – The problem with social media is that you can get credit for things that you haven’t yet done

18:43 – “If you tell a kid that they’ve done well because they’re smart, they’ll do worse than if you praise them for working hard”

19:28 – What about brainwashing yourself? Nathan: “Sometimes you can only achieve things by convincing yourself that you’re better than you are”

21:10 – Kanye West’s fashion line has failed because he didn’t apply the same work to it that he applied to his music. He made the mistake of thinking that he was successful because of who he was - not the work he put in

23:03 – Successful people aren’t successful because of their ego - sometimes it’s in spite of their ego

24:29 – “Passion is not a substitute for knowledge, it’s not a substitute for a plan or knowing what you’re doing”

27:15 – “You can’t build a reputation on what you’re going to do.” Would you want your doctor faking it until he makes it? Would you want a firefighter faking it until she makes it?

28:33 – “As a marketing tactic, talking about things before they happen is great - but don’t buy into your own crap”

29:39 – “Fear is a bad adviser” - Angela Merkel

30:58 – Fear of missing out and fear of risk are both bad advisers - focus on the data and you’ll make better decisions

32:08 – Donald Trump? “Demigods are successful in the short term - they’re very rarely successful in the long term”

3 Key Points:

Confidence is great - but once you start believing your own hype, you’ll stop working effectively.

Don’t let fear or ego make your decisions. Look at the data.

You can’t build a reputation on what you’re going to do. There’s no substitute for sitting down and doing the work.

Resources Mentioned:

Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible.

Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts.

Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+

Beth Milligan, a virtual assistant and online strategist who’s building her business from scratch. Tune in to learn from Beth about claiming back your time, tools to simplify accounting, and starting a business while looking after a toddler.

Famous Five:

Favorite Book? – Big Magic What CEO do you follow? — Kim Garst Favourite online tool? —Tailwind Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— No If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be?—To be more confident, and that she could do anything she put her mind to

Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:30 – Nathan’s introduction 02:04 – Welcoming Beth to the show 02:50 – Beth helps entrepreneurs gain time back by carrying out the tasks they don’t want to do 03:40 – Beth charges a monthly retainer up-front 04:40 – Beth uses Freshbooks to manage her accounts 05:35 – She uses the time tracking feature to log hours and generate invoices 07:00 – Beth’s expenses are under $50 per month 08:55 – Beth has one young kid 09:20 – Beth’s still looking to build her product into something more scaleable 09:45 – Generates revenue of around $800-$1200 per month 11:12 – Tries to give people time back to focus on what they started their business for 12:00 – Connect with Beth at Milligan Strategies 15:00 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points: You can do anything you put your mind to. Be confident. Your time and focus are valuable - use tools that help you claim back time Charge clients up-front to save problems later. Resources Mentioned: Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts. Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible. Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+ Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books.

Nathan Chan, founder of Foundr magazine. Nathan’s a master of Instagram who generates around 400 leads a day from the channel. He’s rocketed the Foundr app to the top of the app store, beating out Entrepreneur magazine and other competitors. Listen in as the two Nathans discuss building an unbeatable list, tips to win at Instagram, and whether Nathan would sell his business for $30 million today.

Famous Five:

Favorite Book? – Ready, Fire, Aim What CEO do you follow? — Vishan Lakhiani Favourite online tool? —SamCart Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— No If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be?—Party more

Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:10 – Nathan’s introduction 01:45 – Welcoming Nathan to the show 02:30 – Nathan’s already been featured on the show 03:10 – Instagram is probably the most valuable revenue driver that Foundr have 03:20 - Their account has around 700k followers 03:40 – Instagram account has generated around 150k email subscribers 05:25 – A VA generates the graphics: they recycle images from 6 months ago 06:20 – Use a tool called Latergram to queue posts 07:04 – The purpose of the Instagram account is to drive traffic and generate leads 07:30 – Capture around 300-400 leads each day from Instagram 08:55 – Nathan teaches an Instagram course 09:25 – The most lucrative funnel appears to be posting about Instagram on Instagram 09:50 – Nathan runs a live webinar every week 10:40 – 3 main revenue streams are from the online magazine; ebooks; and a membership site 11:40 – Courses and digital products are the main revenue generators 12:18 – Over 500k people have downloaded the magazine 13:10 – Nathan found his design team on Behance 14:02 – Foundr magazine is an authority-building product rather than a multi-million dollar product 15:00 – The magazine is making in the high six figures in revenue 15:15 – How does Foundr outrank Entrepreneur in the app store? 15:30 – “Look at keywords - the app name and description” 16:27 – ‘A young entrepreneur magazine” - hits multiple keywords 17:25 – Foundr has just started a weekly podcast 17:48 – Had around 70k downloads in April 2016 19:00 – Nathan would take $30 million for Founder magazine 19:58 – Hoping to have a 500k email list by the end of 2016 20:08 – The membership course - Foundr Club - has 400 paying customers 22:13 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points: Online media isn’t just about publishing content. Build a community, build a list, and work social media for all it’s worth Optimisation is about paying attention to the small things: Nathan started his app name with ‘A+’ to be at the top of alphabetical listings Use social media to capture leads, not to push sales Resources Mentioned: Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts. Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible. Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+ Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books.

Alex Skatell jumped into the incredible competitive online media space and founded the Independent Journal Review. Today it’s one of the top 50 websites in the country, with over 20 million unique views a day. Listen in to hear Alex and Nathan break down the future of online publishing, making money through news, and why you shouldn’t be afraid to go up against giants.

Famous Five:

Favorite Book? – David and Goliath What CEO do you follow? — Fred Smith Favourite online tool? — Asana Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— No If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be?—Go with your gut

Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:32 – Nathan’s introduction 02:11 – Welcoming Alex to the show 02:25 – Why go into online publishing? 02:50 – Alex wanted to create a platform for self-published news in college 03:30 – “People aren’t looking at the front page of the paper to find what’s news” 03:50 – News is becoming more feed-driven: Alex’s company puts out content every 4 minutes 04:20 – 700k people on the email list 05:10 – “How can you reach people online, on your own terms?” 05:35 – Independent Journal Review was launched in 2012 06:08 – The company was initially bootstrapped, and has since raised around $2.5 million from friends and family 06:31 – 20-25 million unique views per day 07:20 – Around 50 people working in the newsroom 08:00 – There’s a technology company and a news company under Alex’s Media Group of America brand 09:00 – Alex believes in publically available tools like Wordpress and Google Analytics 10:00 – Total expenses each month are around six figures 10:30 – Largely makes money through advertising 14:00 – Nathan: Would you scale your technology into a SaaS platform? 14:30 – Alex: No, that’s not our focus 14:18 – Connect with Alex on Twitter and via email 17:30 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points: Don’t be afraid to go up against the big guys. Start-ups can be flexible and take risks, even in spaces full of giants. Go with your gut. Listen to your instincts. The way that people consume and publish news is fundamentally changing - it’s becoming more personalised, more immediate, and more feed-driven.

Resources Mentioned: Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts. Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible. Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+ Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books.